Nerve Root/Facet Joint/Medial Branch/Epidural Injections can be both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures useful for neck pain, back pain, referred pain, numbness and weakness of the arms or legs. Cortisone is injected to suppress any inflammatory effect of the condition causing the patient’s symptoms. Even though the injection may not result in permanent pain relief, significant pain relief may be achieved for a prolonged period, potentially delaying surgery. Further to this, even though the relief obtained from an injection may be transient, it is a worthwhile procedure, as a good response to a cortisone injection is a reliable predictor of how patients will likely respond to surgery. Therefore injections may not always be therapeutic but they can often be diagnostic.